Silence from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander

On Sale Now!

		The August 2010 issue of Astronomy Now, the UK's best-selling astronomy magazine, is now on sale!

Top Stories

		Giant star breaks all records ...A star that weighed in at over 320 times more massive than our Sun when it was born has been discovered deep within the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, confounding expectations of just how big monster stars can be... READ MORE Hot planet grows a tail ...A planet with a tail like a comet is slowly evaporating in the face of a wind of radiation from its parent star, according to brand new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope... READ MORE Saturn’s F-ring gets a fan ...Looking very much like a concertina Chinese fan, Saturn’s F-ring sports intriguing dark ‘blades’ and bright steamers of ring material pulled out by the gravity of the ring’s shepherd moon, Prometheus, in these latest images from the Cassini spacecraft... READ MORE

Silence from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander
by Joe Milton
for ASTRONOMY NOW
Posted: 2 March 2010

We all struggle with long northern winters here on Earth, but enduring the harsh northern Martian winter may have proved too much for NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander.

Stages in the seasonal disappearance of surface ice from the ground around the Phoenix Mars Lander are visible in these images taken on 8 and 25 February by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.

Phoenix landed on Mars on 25 May 2008 and operated successfully for around five months – two months longer than expected. Among other data collected from the planet’s surface, the craft detected water in the Martian soil. However, Phoenix is powered by solar energy and waning sunlight eventually led it to shut down.

It was not designed to survive the extreme conditions of the Martian winter, but NASA scientists are hopeful that Phoenix may still awaken periodically and transmit signals to the space association’s Mars Odyssey orbiter.

A computer generated image of NASA's Phoenix lander in action Image: NASA

As the Martian spring returns – there are currently around 22 hours of sunlight every day – Odyssey has been listening for signals from Phoenix, but the lander has remained silent so far, returning nothing during the 60 overflights conducted from 22-26 February.

A final attempt will be made between 5 and 9 April, when Phoenix will be illuminated constantly by the Sun.

2010 Yearbook

Our latest 132-page Astronomy Now special edition is an extravaganza of astronomy for the year ahead, with a complete 30-page guide to observing the planets, moon, meteor showers, two solar eclipses, and the deep sky in 2010.

U.K. STORE

E.U. STORE

U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

Hubble Reborn
Hubble Reborn takes the reader on a journey through the Universe with spectacular full-colour pictures of galaxies, nebulae, planets and stars as seen through Hubble's eyes, along the way telling the dramatic story of the space telescope, including interviews with key scientists and astronauts.
U.K. STORE
E.U. STORE
U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

3D Universe
Witness the most awesome sights of the Universe as they were meant to be seen in this 100-page extravaganza of planets, galaxies and star-scapes, all in 3D!
U.K. STORE
E.U. STORE
U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

Infinity Rising

This special publication features the photography of British astro-imager Nik Szymanek and covers a range of photographic methods from basic to advanced. Beautiful pictures of the night sky can be obtained with a simple camera and tripod before tackling more difficult projects, such as guided astrophotography through the telescope and CCD imaging.

U.K. STORE

E.U. STORE

U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

Starry Night

Explore the Universe with these new versions of the award-winning Starry Night Software. Available now from the Astronomy Now Store.

U.K. STORE

E.U. STORE

U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

Exploring Mars

Astronomy Now is pleased to announce the publication of Exploring Mars. The very best images of Mars taken by orbiting spacecraft and NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers fill up the 98 glossy pages of this special edition!

U.K. STORE

E.U. STORE

U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

Mars rover poster

This new poster features some of the best pictures from NASA's amazing Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

U.K. STORE

E.U. STORE

U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE